Warning: Some delays to completing orders are expected because of scheduled maintenance at Companies House.

Close

Choosing a company name

How to choose your Company name

The name you choose to give your company will be subject to Companies House approval. That is why Step 1 of forming a company is to check the availability of the proposed name. Our home page links directly with Companies House web check service and generates a report from them.

Companies House restricts and controls your choice of a company name by not allowing the following:

  • Names that are the “same as” existing names of companies already on the Register. The purpose of this restriction is to ensure the public knows which company is which.
  • Names that include “sensitive” words or expressions
  • Names that suggest a connection with the Government, devolved government or administration or a specified public authority.
  • Names that include words that would constitute an offence.
  • Offensive names

The “Same as” rule

Companies House has rules for determining whether a proposed name is the same as an existing company’s name. The following attempts to disguise the similarity of a proposed name will fail:

  • Adding words such as "International”, “ UK”, “services”, “www”,” .co.uk”,” .biz”
  • Inserting a blank space between or after a word, expression, character, sign or symbol
  • Inserting punctuation such as a full stop, comma, colon, bracket, apostrophe
  • Inserting characters "*", "=", "#", "%" and "+" as one of the first three characters in a name
  • Adding "s" at the end of the name (irrespective of whether it is a plural)

There are also words and expressions that will be considered to be the “same as”:

Examples are; "and" and "&", "plus" and "+", "1" and "one", "6" and "six", "€" and "euro", "$" and "dollar", "%" and "percent", "@" and "at". For more guidance see the Regulations

Exceptions to the “Same as” rule:

You can use the same name in the following circumstances:

  • When the proposed company will be part of the same group as an existing company
  • When the existing company consents to the registration of the proposed name
  • When the application to register includes a letter/statement from the existing company which confirms its consent to the incorporation of the new company name and that it will form part of the same group

You will need to supply documentary evidence to support your application to use the same name.

Sensitive words and expressions

There are words and expressions that cannot be included in a company name without additional evidence to justify their inclusion. These are words and expressions which, when included in a company or business name could:

  • Suggest business pre-eminence, a particular status, or a specific function
  • Imply a connection with a government department, devolved administration or, public authority
  • Cause a criminal offence

For a full list of sensitive words and expressions see the Sensitive words

We are rated Excellent by our clients

Trustpilot 4.9 out of five star rating on Trustpilot

Rated 4.9 out of 5.0 based on 2203 reviews

They provided incredible support from their team, guiding me through every step and always helping me with my questions throughout the journey. Really recommend.

Gustavo Hubler

Requested proof of trading address late Friday afternoon and received it on Monday. Clear communication and quick service - thank you, Chandan!

Ros

As always a great and helpful experience. Even with the price increases it is a very competitive and great service.

Hasnen majeed

Highly recommend - Everything is handled for you, easily and quickly. Meaning you can concentrate on your business or other daily tasks.

Jacob Milner